All Rise...

Editor's Note

The Charge

America's most unlikely hero.

The Case

It's the 1950s and for my dollar you can't get much schmuckier than Howard
Prince (Woody Allen, Hollywood
Ending)—part-time restraint cashier, part-time bookie, and all-around
loser. When one of Howard's longtime friends, TV writer Alfred Miller (Michael
Murphy, Batman Returns), is
blacklisted for alleged "communist ties," his career begins to
plummet. His solution? Hire Howard to be his "front." In other words,
Alfred writes the scripts while Howard's name is on the cover page. The two find
this to be such a lucrative business venture that Howard brings on other
blacklisted writers to do the same. Howard is even able to strike up a
friendship with "Hecky" Brown (the late Zero Mostel in one of his
final film roles), a comedian who also finds himself placed on the infamous
blacklist. Things run smoothly for Howard, until the FBI starts snooping around
his life. When Howard is summoned before an investigative committee and pressed
to name names, things take a dramatic turn in a story about one of
Hollywood—and America's—most disturbing historical times.

For those walking into The Front assuming it's a typical Woody Allen
comedy, think again. Though there are humorous moments, The Front feels
more like a drama trying to climb its way out of the film's comedic parameters.
One of a handful of films starring but not written or directed by Allen,
The Front is a cautionary tale about an embarrassing period in American
history that makes Author Miller's "The Crucible" look like a Sunday
Easter egg hunt. In the 1950s, the American government tried to purge the
country of communist sympathizers—a modern day "witch hunt."
This mass hysteria created a blacklist in Hollywood that put many writers,
actors, and directors out of work (including director Martin Ritt and star Zero
Mostel.) Because so many who worked on The Front were involved in this
blacklist, the film can be seen as somewhat of a payback—the cinematic
equivalent of saying "up yours" to the government and the 1950s
Hollywood establishment. To that end, The Front is a scathing story that
works on a level rarely seen on film—biting the Hollywood hand that feeds
it.

As entertainment goes, The Front is good, but certainly not great.
The performances range from excellent (Zero Mostel at his eye bugging,
wisecracking best) to only mediocre (Woody Allen—clever zingers = snooze).
Often it's hard to tell if the movie wants to be funny or deadly serious. For
instance, the fate of poor "Hecky" Brown doesn't seem to be keeping in
tone with the rest of the film. Director/producer Martin Ritt shows restraint
with his subject, even if the proceedings tend to get bogged down with lots of
television screenwriting mumbo jumbo. Written by Walter Bernstein (Fail-Safe, another blacklisting victim), The
Front feels slightly uneven—more comedy would have been a
plus—but sports enough introspective moments to make it worthwhile.

The Front is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Considering
the source material and age of this film (it's almost 30 years old), Columbia
has done a very fine job at making sure the picture is in good shape. There are
a few imperfections in the transfer, including a small amount of grain and some
washed colors. Otherwise, I was pleasantly surprised at how attractive this
image looks. The soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 in English. There
isn't a lot to report about this sound mix. It's a front heavy track that
doesn't utilize any directional effects. Not that any are needed, considering
this is a straightforward comedy/drama set in the 1950s. Most aspects of the mix
are free of any hiss or distortion. Also included on this disc are English,
French, Japanese, and Korean subtitles.

The extra features on The Front are floating at the bare
minimum—all that's been included are two theatrical trailers, one for
Allen's Manhattan Murder Mystery and a second for Neil Simon's Lost In Yonkers.

For all its flaws, The Front deals well with a subject Hollywood has
generally ignored. The fact that something so dangerous could happen in America
is spooky no matter what genre it inhabits.